Chapter 2: After School Hours Pt. I

It was late, and Cordelia was tired. They had been practicing cheerleading for well over three hours and the squad wasn't getting any better.

And it's a simple cheer. It's not like we're trying to remember a whole song by the Fugees or anything. And it's not like Miss I'm-The-Slayer was doing the squad any good.

Cordelia was having serious doubts over choosing Buffy to fill in for the lack of girls who joined this year, she was horrible. She kept flying all over the place and she could never get the cheer right.

Hell even Willow would've been a better choice.

The girls continued the cheer. Cordelia heard it so many times over the past hour she felt like her head was about to explode.

The mighty mighty Razorbacks

Everywhere we go, people wanna know

Who we are so we tell them

We are the mighty mighty Razorbacks

Cordelia stopped the cheer for what felt like the zillionth time.

"Okay, okay. Let's take a short break." Cordelia said impatiently. She needed this time to talk to Buffy. She didn't want to have to, but if Buffy kept messing up on the cheer she would have to let her go.

"A little reminder Buffy. I know you're like MVP when it comes to offing the butt-ugly supernatural beasties, but cheerleading is an entirely different discipline. Please, try to pay attention."

Buffy let out an exhausted sigh and shrugged her shoulders.

I so don't want to be here right now.

"Sorry, just feeling a little oogy. Haven't had much luck with the quality Z's lately, bad dreams. And, let's do forget I'm doing this as a favor to you. I'm over the pursuit of fame and glory of cheerleading." Buffy said tiredly. Cordelia shook her head.

"It's a crushing blow to the world of synchronized shouting. Okay girls, let's take that last one again, but this time I…" a loud click echoed through the gymnasium, and the whole room was engulfed in darkness. Buffy felt her heart jump up to her throat.

Don't panic. Just get everyone out and find Giles.

"Cordy, get everyone in the supply closet and keep them quiet till I come for you. I'm gonna try to contact the janitor and see if I can get Creepy Pete to turn the lights back on." Buffy said quickly.

Cordelia nodded her head and motioned the girls to follow her out of the gym. Buffy waited till the last girl ran out and she followed after.

I so don't need this right now.

She closed the doors behind her and pulled out her stake, ready for anything to attack.

---

Giles was extremely tired. The flight back home was long and dull. Despite the lulling sound of the engine, and the relaxing quiet of the plane, besides the occasional cry of an infant, he was unable to get much sleep. He stayed up for almost the entire flight reading a technology magazine he found behind the seat in front of him, and watched a couple of the in flight movies, Titanic and Mrs. Doubtfire, both of which he didn't care much for.

He arrived back at the library, heading straight for his small office inside, anticipating a good nap by his desk. He opened the door and got more than he bargained for.

"SURPRISE!" Xander and Willow both jumped out at him as he swung open the double doors of the library. He fell back against the check-out desk in pure surprise.

At least they succeeded in the surprise part.

Willow ran up and embraced him. He weakly returned the hug, still in shock from their scare.

"Welcome home, G Man." Xander said as he patted him roughly on the back.

"Xander, I asked you never to call me that again." Giles said tiredly. Xander just smiled at him.

"Sorry, G Man. How was your flight?" Xander asked happily. Giles just shook his head and pushed him out of the way. He tried to get into his office but Willow stood in his way, with a plate in her hands.

"We made you cookies! We sorta figured, you know, with the all the salty in-flight peanuts and all, you would want something sweet...We made you cookies!" Willow said cheerfully. Giles looked down at the plate.

"Are those chocolate chip?" Giles asked, amused. Willow nodded her head energetically. Giles smiled. He couldn't stay cranky at them too long. Giles took the plate and nodded thanks. Willow scooted over to Xander and Giles went into his office and shut the door. He could hear them outside.

"Score one for the Scoobs." he heard Willow say.

"See, I told you, go for the chocolate chip." Xander said. Then he said in a girlish voice

"But Xander, I think he likes oatmeal raisin. We should make those instead" Giles heard a smack as Willow punched him in the arm.

"Okay, ow." Xander said. That was all Giles heard before he drifted off to sleep.

Giles was suddenly awoken by a rough shake. He looked up quickly to see Willow's worry-stricken face.

"Giles! All the lights in the school cut out! Xander went out to look for Buffy and Cordelia. What do you think happened?" Willow cried. Giles felt a little slurry at first, but perked up when he realized what was going on.

"I don't know, but it could be something pretty dangerous. I don't like the idea of Xander taking off and about on his own, go out and follow him. If the both of you can find Cordelia and Buffy, great. But hurry back." Giles said worriedly. Willow gave a grim face of resolution, nodded her head and took off. Giles took off his glasses and rubbed at his eyes.

Please be safe. All of you

---

Buffy walked into the boy's locker room. The room was ransacked. Most, if not all of the lockers were broken off of there hinges, and one of the wooden benches were broken in half.

She heard a muffled sound behind the door leading out of the locker room. She readied her stake and pulled the door open. Mr. Campbell, her physics teacher stood in the doorway. He suddenly dropped to the floor, and a vampire stood in his place.

Buffy stood in awe as the vampire lashed out at her, sending her flying backwards. She crashed against the lockers on the back wall. Pain shot out through every part of her body. She got up quickly, trying to ignore it. She reached for her stake, but it wasn't there.

Crap, I must have dropped it.

"Come here Slayer!" The vampire said as he ran up to her.

"Gladly." Buffy retorted. Before the vampire had time to react, Buffy grabbed him by the shoulders, and gathering most of her strength, tossed him to the side. Buffy was rewarded with the sound of wood connecting with flesh as the vampire landed cleanly on the broken bench. The vampire was stuck on the bench, the broken edge putruding through his chest. He stayed there for a millisecond before he dissipated into a cloud of dust.

"Wow, that was easy."

Buffy let out a sigh of relief, but it disappeared as she saw the lifeless body of her physics teacher lying on the floor.

Oh Mr. Campbell. Even in the most boring physics class I never would've wished this on you.

Even though she felt sorry for the teacher, she knew she couldn't let her emotions get the best of her. People died and there wasn't anything she could do about it.

I wonder how Faith would've handled it.

She didn't want to think about Faith right now. Faith was still angry at the rest of them. A couple of days ago, a woman named Gwendolyn Post came to Sunnydale and tricked them into thinking that she was Faith's new Watcher. She was really an ex-Watcher who had come to retrieve the Glove of Myhnegon to gain power and had convinced Faith that they were all against her. While she was just saying that to get Faith to help her, most of it was true. They had been shutting Faith out from their missions and didn't realize it.

Faith is too mad at us now though. I don't think any of us should bother her.

Buffy decided to let it go and move on. If Mr. Campbell had been wandering around school when the vampire caught him, there was no telling who else was on campus.

Not to mention Cordelia and the other cheerleaders. And oh God, didn't Xander and Willow say they were gonna stay on campus when Giles arrived? They must still be here and there's no telling how many other vamps are trying to take over the school.

As if on cue, Buffy heard a scream. She ran, following the source of the noise to the girl's bathroom. It was one of the cheerleaders, Erin if Buffy remembered her name right. Erin was in the bathroom, backing away from something. A vampire suddenly came into view, smacking his lips and looking hungrily at Erin.

"Right now you're every pretty girl that ever ignored me. Time for payback." The vampire smirked.

Buffy reacted quickly. She ran up to the vampire and met the side of his face with her fist. The vampire fell back in surprise. Before he had time to retaliate, Buffy staked him in the chest, and he was reduced to dust.

Buffy turned around to see Erin on her knees, sobbing. Buffy knelt over to comfort her.

"It's okay, I took care of him. He won't hurt you. Are you gonna be okay?" Buffy asked. Erin shook her head.

"They're missing…all the other girls. I don't know what happened…We were all following Cordelia…or so I thought. But when I looked around…they were all gone. I was by myself…I must of gotten separated. Then I saw that guy…that thing…and he chased me back all the way over here." Erin cried out between sobs.

"It will be okay. You just stay in here, lock the door. I'll go find the others and see what I can do about the power." Buffy said quickly. Erin nodded her head sadly. Buffy nodded back in return and got back up. Talking to Giles could wait, she had to go and find the others before anyone else got killed tonight.

---

Willow hid behind the desk in the classroom. After Giles told her to go find the rest of the gang, she took the magnetic keycard and used it to get all the way over here. Luckily the backup generator was on long enough for the electronic locks to be working.

But not now.

Just as she made it to the side of the school by the gymnasium, a group of vampires attacked her. She tried to fight back, only losing her stake in the process. She tried to go back the way she came but the door was locked. She figured the generator stopped working, so she was stuck. Willow ran in the other direction, with the vamps on her heels. She picked up her pace and ran faster than her legs could carry her. She felt ready to give up until she found an open classroom door. She quickly ran in and locked it shut. She stayed along the far wall and listened for noises outside, but it was silent.

I must've lost them.

Suddenly Willow heard a shuffling noise outside in the hallways. She heard heavy breathing as the figure came closer to the door. The figure stopped in front of the door. The door opened up and Buffy stood in the doorway, sweaty and panting.

I thought I locked that.

"Willow! Your okay!" Buffy said happily. Then she must of saw Willow's worried expression because her smile quickly faded.

"You are okay, aren't you?" Buffy asked worriedly. Willow shook her head.

"Xander and Cordelia are missing. I tried to find them but a group of vampires chased me here. I would go back out and find them but they cut the power, never a good thing. Does that make me a pessimist to say that's a bad omen? Cutting the power, I'm guessing they're smarter than the average bear, or average vampire bear. And here's another thought on a collision course with my terror, there are magnetic locks on all the main doors. Here take this" Willow handed her the keycard.

"You won't be able to open them until the power comes back on."

"Then we have to get the power back on. Just stay here, keep your head down." Buffy said quickly.

"Absolutely. Classroom. Always felt right at home in a classroom. Yep, gonna stay right here with the chalk." Willow said breathlessly. Buffy smiled at her and walked out the room. She turned around and faced her.

"Take care of yourself." Buffy said

"You too." Willow smiled back. Buffy closed the door behind her Willow walked up to the door and locked it tightly. She let out a deep breath.

I hope this all blows over soon.

---

Xander walked down the dark corridors of Sunnydale High. He looked up and down the hallways in search of Buffy and Cordelia, but the search seemed to be a waste of time. He ran out of the library when the lights had suddenly cut off. It was a stupid idea running out on his own with nothing but a bat to protect him from the forces of darkness, one that he was sure he would regret later. He felt stupid thinking that he could fight on his own. He needed Buffy

I guess you can just chalk it up to teenage hormones.

Xander walked out into the front of the school. The area was empty and deserted.

Well duh. It's after-school. No one would be dumb enough to stay here in the middle of the night. Of course, unless, you were, um, saving the world.

Xander walked out in front of the school, headed towards the double doors on the far left when he heard growling. He stopped dead in his tracks. He turned around slowly and saw pairs of yellow eyes glowering at him. The vampires walked out into the moonlight and came into view. There was about five or six of them. They licked their fangs and glared hungrily at him. There was just too many of them, Xander didn't stand a chance. He turned around and ran towards the double doors. He heard the vampires howl behind him and give chase. He ran faster to the doors. He reached for the handled and yanked tightly, but the doors wouldn't budge. They were sealed tight.

"Oh crap."

---

Buffy fell unceremoniously on her ass. She had to admit, this was one tough vamp. The vampire growled and ran towards her. Buffy positioned herself as the vamp came at full speed. When the vamp got close enough, Buffy jumped up quickly and grabbed her wrist all in one swift motion. Then she purposely fell backwards, still holding on to the vamps wrist, flinging the vampire across the hallway.

The vampire got back up quickly stunned. Then she shook her head and faced Buffy.

"I never paid attention to girls like you before…" The vampire retorted. Buffy took this opportunity to throw the stake. The stake hit the vamp square in the chest during her taunt, and she turned to dust.

"Maybe you should have paid more attention then." Buffy smirked. She walked up to where the vampire stood and picked up her stake.

That was the seventh vampire tonight. I fought two before I talked to Willow and this is the fifth one since then. Where are they all coming from? What is it that that really wants?

Buffy didn't know. She knew she was going to have to talk to Giles, fast. But she wasn't going anywhere until she found out her friends were safe.

"That's it; the only way these leeches are getting out of here is through a dustpan." Buffy said angrily.

Buffy opened up the double doors that led to the quad. Her body cooled off immediately as the cool night air rushed at her skin. She saw a huge figure jump in the corner of her eye. She looked up and saw a huge vampire on top of the roof ahead of her. The vampire jumped swiftly from the rooftop, onto the balcony below, and flew through the sliding-glass door on the balcony in one swift motion.

"What's this? New blood or more than likely the recycled kind?"

Buffy decided to chase after him. She ran towards the balcony, onto the planter below. She hopped up onto the planter, and using her Slayer strength, leaped up and grabbed the edge of the balcony. She hoisted herself up and landed firmly on top. She took out her stake and walked through the new doorway the vampire made. She saw a lone wooden chair lying on its back in the ransacked office. She lifted her foot and crashed it down onto the chair. She took a couple of the broken legs and put them away in sweat pants just in case.

She exited the office out the door and towards the stairs. She went down the stairs carefully, just in case the big macho guy was waiting for her, she still wanted the element of surprise. The door in front of the bottom of the steps was slightly ajar. Buffy crept up and slowly opened the door. To her surprise, a body laid still in a chair in front of a desk. Buffy crept up behind the chair and slowly turned it around. The face of the janitor stared blankly at her, his throat cut opened.

The door behind her suddenly slammed. She turned around, stake drawn. A vampire with dark, spiked hair stood in front of the closed door. He wiggled a pair of keys in front of him.

"Are you looking for these? If you want them, you have to kill me first!" The vampire yelled.

"I thought you'd never ask." Buffy smirked.

Buffy ran up to him. The vampire slapped the keys across her face. Buffy jumped back and replied with a swift kick to the chest, followed by a series a fast punches. The vampire doubled over. Buffy took her stake and rammed it into his back. The vampire exploded into a cloud of dust. Buffy grabbed the keys off of the floor and dusted them off. She felt sorry for the janitor, but she knew that she had to get over it. She took the keys and jogged to the basement. She would have to get the power back on herself.

---

Xander managed to get a couple of vampires off of his back with his trusty bat. He knew it wasn't gonna last him long, there was way too many of them.

"Come on, boy. It won't hurt. After twenty minutes, you won't feel a thing." The vampire said calmly

"Oh no. I've been to the dentist's office WAY too many times to fall for THAT again!" Xander blurted.

Two of the vamps rushed at him. He swung his bat blindly through the air, in hopes of hitting one of them.

"Back! Back!" Xander yelled. He was rewarded with the sickening sound as the bat cracked one of them in the skull. The vampire's yellow eyes rolled back in his head and fell to the ground. A few of the vampires backed off. Xander snatched his stake out of his jeans pocket and jammed it into the chest of the fallen vampire. The vampire screamed in agony as Xander missed and the stake went through his gut.

"Curses!" Xander left the stake and backed up from the other vampires. The five of them glared at him hungrily. They all began to advance on him, stepping over the fallen vampire.

Xander was dead meat.

---

Cordelia ran through the hallways in a blind panic. After surviving almost a year with Buffy and the gang, helping them fight vampires and still finding time to get her hair done, Cordelia had never felt more scared. She was alone, and terrified. She lost the rest of the girls back by the gym. A couple of them got tired and stayed behind. And the other three, well, she didn't know what happened to the other three. They probably got eaten or something. All Cordelia was worried about was saving her own ass.

Cordelia continued running through the halls, yelling out Xander's or Buffy's name, in hopes of some sort of reply from one of them.

Hell even a cheap smart remark from Buffy or one of Xander's lame attempts at a joke would salvage for me right now.

Cordelia screamed out as a pair of hands grabbed her arm and yanked her through the doorway.

"Cordelia shut up!" The figure yelled. Cordelia looked up to see Willow glaring at her. Usually she wouldn't allow anyone, especially Miss Rosenberg to talk to her like that, but she was scared. She grabbed Willow's shirt and started sobbing.

"Willow, I lost them! And I can't find Buffy or Xander anywhere! I don't know what to do!" Willow shushed her and patted her lightly on the back.

"Buffy went out to find a way to get the lights on and running again. I'm sure Xander is with her, or he found a way back to the library with Giles." Willow said calmly.

As if on cue, the lights cut back on. Cordelia heard the soft hum as all the lights outside in the hallway turned on one by one.

"Yes!" Willow cried out gleefully. "Everything's gonna be okay!" Cordelia let go of her shirt and glared menacingly at Willow.

"If you tell anyone about this Rosenberg, I'll personally kill you myself!"

"Your secret is safe with me." Willow replied.

"It better be." Cordelia warned.

---

Giles sat in the dark, munching at cookies and constantly worrying about the Gang's safety. He hoped Willow and Xander both caught up with Buffy and Cordelia, and the four of them were on their way back to the library. The lights suddenly cut back on. Giles was filled with relief.

Buffy is back in control now, everything is gonna be alright.

His joy was quickly cut off by a large sound in the book stacks. It sounded like a fairly large creature was rummaging through the books. Giles got up and quietly opened up the door and peeked out. A rather large man was rummaging through stacks of books. He had long hair, and pale, white skin similar to The Master.

He doesn't look like The Master. Unless he somehow came back from the dead and grew hair.

He decided Buffy should take care of this. Hopefully her hands weren't too full and she was on her way right now. It was a risky idea but he had to use the intercom. He needed Buffy to hurry along quickly before the beast in the library did any real harm.